But He Had Other Plans
by dart53
Summary: The Warden pulls a fast one.  In honor of Ron Harper, The Warden's, birthday... and in conjunction with the celebration on Yahoo Groups


"The way that guy's been runnin' us lately he deserves it." the safecracker grouched to the others.

"Come now, Casino, no one deserves to be forgotten on their birthday." Actor admonished from the rear of the group.

None of them would have known the exact day if it hadn't been for the letter Casino's mother sent reminding him… "I told ya. She could teach the jokers runnin' this operation a thing or two," he said when he'd opened it and read it six days ago. Since then they'd been on the obstacle course twice a day, down on the firing range, out on the jump tower, practicing hand to hand, and even off in the woods learning how to make their way across country using a compass and a map!

"But we give him the surprise of the cottage already…" Goniff said. "Ages ago."

"Yeah, and we promised to come out and help him work on it too." Chief reminded him.

That combined effort hadn't lasted very long. They kept at it on their off time for a couple of weeks but after that the men seemed to find other things to take up their time and energy. The Warden still came out though. According to the Sergeant Major he got up even earlier for his run, did that, and then spent an hour on the cottage before he went in to start the paperwork that seemed to magically appear on his desk every morning. If he didn't have meeting in London, or have to come bail them out of some trouble they'd gotten into in the village he usually spent some time on it in the evening too. Alf, the handyman, found a reason to stay into the evenings on his regular days and could generally be found out there. Garrison never talked about what he was doing… and since they all felt a little guilty about it, even though they'd never admit it, even to themselves, they never asked.

"He's not gonna go for this…" Goniff ventured. The men decided, when they realized, at almost the last minute, to invite the Warden down to the Doves for a drink to celebrate his birthday. There hadn't been time enough to make arrangements for a cake, and they hadn't saved enough back from having their own fun to be able to pool their resources for a nice dinner, but they figured he'd never know the difference. "He never come down there with us before."

"That's not true, you dummy." Casino snorted. "He come down when we were celebratin' your birthday, didn't he?"

"He come down to tell us we had a Bloody mission!" Goniff reminded him with a sniff.

"And as a result you got two parties out of it." Actor said.

"AND ended up in the slammer!" countered the pick pocket.

"Only because you slugged me in the jaw." Casino grabbed Goniff by the shoulder and pulled him around so they were face to face. He took a threatening step forward and growled, "I never did pay you back for that one, did I?"

"Oh yes you did!" Goniff claimed in a squeak, as he stepped behind Actor for some protection. "You sung Happy Birthday to me…. Five times!" And he'd a put a stop to that too if he hadn't a been behind bars at the time.

"You sure he's out here?" Chief asked in an effort to diffuse the argument that was likely to escalate into a slug fest.

Goniff peered through the darkness, glad of the distraction. "Don't look like no one's about."

They'd come across the grounds following Chief. The moon was full but there were clouds tonight that blocked most of the light. Their scout had eyes like a cat, though, and didn't require the aid of the flashlights both Casino and Actor were carrying with them. All of them turned to look towards the small gardeners cottage… there wasn't any sign or sound of life.

"He'll have the blackout curtains in place." Actor said, his words curled away as steam in the cold air.

Just then the clouds parted and the wind shifted. With the shift came the smell of smoke.

Chief started for the cottage at a run "Somethin's burnin!"

The others were hard on his heels and as he shoved the door open they all clattered to a stop on the threshold.

The cottage had been transformed from the broken down shell they'd decided to fix up months ago. There was glass in all of the windows now, and they all worked, flawlessly. Every door in the place had been stripped of it's old paint, sanded, stained and re-hung. Every hinge had been oiled. Nothing squeaked, nothing stuck. The walls were newly whitewashed. Electric lights shone from their sconces. The floors glowed richly under their new coat of hand rubbed wax.

The fireplace had been rebuilt and, to prove that it had been done properly, a fire sat flickering merrily on the grate. The new mantelpiece, a solid slab of oak cut from a tree that had fallen under it's burden of winter snow, was host to the efforts of a local potter, candles made by hand, and a gathering of the forest's offering of pine, holly and dried grasses.

The stove, or hob, in the small kitchen that sat in the corner had undergone the same rehabilitation. From the enticing smell that came from a pot that was gently steaming there the effort had obviously been successful.

The table that stood before them was set for dinner and took up most of the space in the small common room. There were five place settings… the wine glasses were already filled. The bowls that sat on each plate already held salad.

The four men were drawn towards the table and had moved away from the door, leaving it open. They were all mesmerized by the change the cottage had undergone,… and the smell coming from the small kitchen, and were unaware of Garrison's arrival at the door. His comment caused them all to jump and turn.

"Your timing's practically perfect, I was just about to take everything off the heat." He smiled at their startled expressions. "Why don't you all find a place to sit and we'll get started."

Casino glanced over his shoulder at the table and then turned back to glare at the Warden. "What's all this?" he asked with a suspicious edge to his voice as he pulled a chair out.

"Casino," Garrison said, as he herded the other three cons towards the table. "The mail comes across my desk before you ever see it, remember? Besides your mother sent me a card and it came in the same delivery."

The Warden pulled his own chair out and settled in, picking up a fork he glanced around at the others. "Well, get started, there's more to come."

The salad was consumed in almost perfect silence. Fresh greens and vegetables were almost impossible to come by at this time of year. As soon as the bottom of the bowls were reached Garrison got up and went to the hob. The plate he brought to the table was heaped with steaks, the bowl held roasted potatoes.

"Where ever did you get all this?" Actor marveled.

Garrison smiled as he forked the last steak and potato onto his own plate. "There are ways."

"Jeeze!" Casino laughed. "I don't believe it! You hit the black market?"

"Anybody see you down there, man?" Chief asked, concern for their leader obvious on his face.

"Only Wilkins." the Warden confessed.

"General Fremont's aid?" Actor asked with a laugh.

Garrison shrugged. "These weren't my first choice of cuts… he got in there before me."

After the laughter died down Goniff insisted. "But we was gonna take you down to th' Doves for your birthday drink `n dinner…"

The Lieutenant looked around the room with pleasure. "This place is more than enough... Besides that brithday drink would have ended up with a bar brawl and me bailing you out of jail." he raised his glass in a toast to the men gathered around the table. "I think this way we'll avoid that."

"But there's s'pose to be a cake and…" Casino started, feeling a little guilty now about being so willing to go off to the pub without the Warden to pay him back for all the training and practicing he'd been handing out to them the last few days… All of that was obviously just a con job so he could cook this little dinner up.

"There's cake." Garrison assured him. "Winnie left it on the sideboard."

"Blimey! I'd wager she left the candles too." Goniff grinned around the table. He wasn't happy to be on the receiving end but he wasn't above torturing some other bloke. "We'll light `em up after our stuff up and sing you a Happy Bir…."

"Goniff. One note out of any of you and you'll all be running that obstacle course in the dark."

"But, Warden…"

"My birthday. My rules." Garrison watched them over his wine glass. "Take it, or leave it."

The men shared a look, weighed their chances of getting away with it… and then turned silently back to the job at hand. For the next half hour the only thing that could be heard was the gentle chime of crystal, as the glasses were refilled, the grating of cutlery on china, and groans of contentment.

They'd sing, sooner or later, even the Warden knew he couldn't put them off forever… but they wouldn't risk being ordered out onto that obstacle course before dinner was finished and that cake was cut!


End file.
